Naturally Colored Sprinkles

Introduction: Naturally Colored Sprinkles

In this instructable, I would like to show you how to make a Natural Colored Sprinkles from scratch using the colors extracted from vegetables like Beetroots, Carrots, Spinach and Red Cabbage without using any artificial ingredients, dyes or raw egg.

Step 1: Ingredients

1) Beetroot - 1/3 Cup

2) Carrot - 1/3 Cup

3) Spinach - 1/3 Cup

4) Red Cabbage - 1/3 Cup

5) Turmeric - 1/8 Tsp

6) Confectioner's Sugar (Powdered Sugar) - 1/2 Cup

7) Corn Starch - 1 1/2 Tsp

8) Vanilla Extract (Any extract can be used) - 1/2 Tsp

9) Water - required to blend

Step 2: Puree the Vegetables

Beets/ Carrots/ Spinach:

1) Puree vegetables in a juicer or a blender. (I used Blender)

2) When using a blender, add little water to blend the vegetables.

3) Then filter the vegetable puree in order to remove the crushed vegetable pieces.

Red Cabbage :

1) Boil the chopped red cabbage in water (covering the cabbage) till the water turns dark purple. Then strain the purple water. Keep it aside.

2) Take some of the purple water and add little by little of Baking soda to obtain Blue color.

Turmeric :

1) It can be added directly to the batter in the powdered form in a very little quantity(If added in excess overpowers the taste)

Step 3: Making the Sprinkles

1) Sift the powdered sugar along with cornstarch in order to remove any lumps present.

2) Take a portion of sifted powdered sugar and cornstarch, add vanilla extract and the desired vegetable puree little by little.

3) Mix well to form a batter with smooth and little thick paste consistency (not very thick. should be able to pipe it using a piping bag)

4) Similarly make the batter for all the vegetable puree separately.(different extracts like almond, lemon can be used)

5) Transfer the mixture into disposable piping bags (I used individual Ziploc bags for each color) and cut the edge making a small hole or use a very small round tip

6) Line a cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.

7) Pipe out long lines across the parchment paper.

8) Let dry undisturbed in a cool place for about 24 hours or until dry to touch

9) Gently break the lines into small pieces and store the sprinkles in the airtight container for up to 3 months.

Naturally Made Rainbow Sprinkles are Ready !

Step 4: Experiment!!!

Boiling Method: [Boiling the vegetables in water and using the boiled water]

1) The color obtained from boiling the vegetables is lighter as it is diluted.

2) water content is more.

3) As the color obtained is lighter it is needed in higher quantity.

4) The taste is diluted when compared to juice method.

Juice Method : [Blending the vegetables]

1) The color obtained from the vegetable juice is more vibrant.

2) less water content.

3) As the color obtained is vibrant it is needed in less quantity.

4) It is likey to taste a little stronger than the boiling method.

I tried both the method and used the Juice method for making sprinkles since I need the color with less water content.

Step 5: Reusing & Other Applications

1) The vegetable puree can be frozen and stored for future use.(I used ice cube tray)

2) Vegetable puree can be used as water color paint when it is frozen.

3) The vegetable puree can be used to naturally color cupcake frosting, Play-Doh and homemade finger paints etc..

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27 Comments

I have always wanted to use vegetables and fruits for coloring. Except using blue berries to dye spider web on eggs: ttp://www.instructables.com/id/Halloween-spiderweb-eggs/ I haven't gotten time to do much other experiments. Now you have beaten me on it. I voted for you. Making them into sprinkles is a great idea!

The spiderweb egg was awesome !!! I liked it a lot :) Even I prefer to use vegetables and fruits for coloring. Everything needs to be colorful for my daughter. She is the inspiration for the sprinkles. Thank you very much for the kind words and your vote :) Have a great day !